Subject: Can we not ask God to forgive another? |
Bible Note: Doc: I hate to say it this way, but I think you are perfectly correct. Your analysis is borne out by the order of events in the story of the king and the two servants in Matthew 18. The question is: “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellowservant, even as I had pity on you?” (Verse 33). As to the Jonathan Edwards quote, what can we say? It is a sad fact of human nature that we hate those we are supposed to love more than we would a stranger. Men kill their wives, etc. But a person who is saved should stop and think. Since God has forgiven me all my wickedness, all my stupidity, all my ignorance, and the mistake I made in resisting him, then I should be willing to forgive anyone anything. God has commanded us to love one another, as brethren, and we should be wary of any sign in us that we would do the opposite. We should be wary of any tendency to withhold forgiveness, because that causes our brother to suffer. One difficulty, as I see it still, is that we want the other person to change (1 John 5:16). We want to see him repent and change direction, so that any future offence is an anomalous mistake and not deliberate annoying act. We really want that, I think, for ourselves and for him. The mistake we make is in thinking that in rejecting him we are purifying the church or ourselves. God’s desire is always restoration (Compare 1 Corinthians 5 with 2 Corinthians 2). I am thinking of the havoc wrought by an unforgiving spirit, but we should not get into that. I should not in any way diminish or becloud the point you have made, that we should appreciate how much God has forgiven us and be willing to forgive our brother. |